CINCINNATI – FC Cincinnati midfielder Jimmy McLaughlin wonders how much better his past experience with a Major League Soccer affiliate club would have been in today’s environment.

After signing with the Philadelphia Union ahead of the 2012 season, he ended up spending most of the next four years with the club’s United Soccer League affiliate, the former Harrisburg City Islanders.

It was a relatively new partnership at the time – one that ended at the same point McLaughlin’s tenure with the Union concluded. McLaughlin made his FC Cincinnati debut the next season and the Union began their own affiliate, Bethlehem Steel FC.

“When I was there, it was kind of the beginning stages of the affiliates, and honestly, it wasn’t ideal when I was there,” said McLaughlin, who came up through the Union’s youth academy. “It was two different coaching staffs. I had a great experience in the organization – I loved the coaches I had in Harrisburg, and...